It is well known that the majority of “coloured”garments loose a certain amount of dye in the wash water and must therefore be washed separately from “white” garments, in order to avoid them becoming partially or totally dyed.
This problem has afflicted housewives throughout the world for some time and has always been resolved by carefully separating “coloured” garments from “whites”, or by using low temperature wash programs or by trying to make the pigments bind more tightly to the garment. In these cases, it is not always possible to obtain the desired results and very frequently, after machine washing, it is found that the “whites” are completely or partially dyed.
Another problem affecting housewives all over the world, and especially those living in areas where the mains water is hard, is the formation of limescale on the interior surfaces of the washing machine.
Water hardness is the quantity of alkaline earth metal salts, particularly calcium and magnesium bicarbonates and sulphates, present in solution in the water. Water is defined as being averagely hard if it has a lime content (calcium carbonate) of between 150 and 250 mg/l (15-25° F.), while it is considered hard if the lime content exceeds 250 mg/l (from 25° F.).
With passing time, medium hard or hard waters deposit a layer of limescale on the inner surfaces of washing machines which, if not periodically eliminated, can cause choking of drains, malfunctioning of washing machine components etc., with the consequent breakdown of the device and/or abundant water leakage.
In addition, the presence of high quantities of calcium and magnesium salts dissolved in the water, with passing time, cause damage to the washed garments and to the environment. Indeed, calcium and magnesium salts partially neutralise the action of detergents, resulting in overdosing of the detergent itself, increased cost and greater environmental pollution. The damage caused to washed garments is due to the microdeposition of lime in the fibres, resulting in loss of garment softness, thus provoking its premature deterioration.
Normally, in order to avoid the aforementioned problems, inside the wash tub itself, the detergent is supplemented with suitable quantities of softener, which is normally in powder, tablet or liquid form.